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Unintentional Poisoning Deaths

In 2004, poisoning was second only to motor-vehicle crashes as a cause of death from unintentional injury in the United States. Nearly all poisoning deaths are attributed to abuse of prescription and illegal drugs. Previous reports indicated a substantial increase in unintentional poisoning mortality during the 1980s and 1990s. This report summarizes the most recent data, which indicated that poisoning mortality rates in the United States increased by 62.5 percent during 1999–2004.  

In 2004, poisoning was second only to motor-vehicle crashes as a cause of death from unintentional injury in the United States. Nearly all poisoning deaths are attributed to abuse of prescription and illegal drugs. Previous reports indicated a substantial increase in unintentional poisoning mortality during the 1980s and 1990s. This report summarizes the most recent data, which indicated that poisoning mortality rates in the United States increased by 62.5 percent during 1999–2004. Created: 2/9/2007 by MMWR. Date Released: 3/30/2007. Series Name: A Minute of Health with CDC.

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A MINUTE OF HEALTH WITH CDC
Drug Overdose Deaths
What do we know about drug overdose deaths in the United States?
March 30, 2007

This program is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC – safer, healthier people.

Every day more than 50 people die from unintentional drug overdoses in the
United States. A recent CDC study found that the number of deaths has
increased dramatically. In 1999, there were about eleven thousand deaths from
drug overdoses. By 2004, this number had grown to nearly twenty thousand.

CDC learned that men are twice as likely to die from a drug overdose as women,
and that a growing number of victims are between the ages of 15 and 24. They
also found that drug overdose deaths have become more common in rural areas,
especially in the South and Midwest.

Prescription pain medications like methadone are the most common drugs to
result in drug overdoses. Raising awareness among physicians, other healthcare
providers, and patients is an important strategy for reducing drug overdose
deaths.

Thank you for joining us on A Minute of Health with CDC.

To access the most accurate and relevant health information that affects you,
your family and your community, please visit www.cdc.gov.

  Page last modified Friday, March 30, 2007
Safer, Healthier People
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